Lamentation of a Broken Singer
It all happened so fast. A rush of fire and rubble encompassing everything around the area of impact. No one could have foreseen the events that transpired. A normal day turned on its head by an agent of chaos, instrumenting the demise of a single individual; Inochi Yamanaka. Through the smoke and rubble, people struggle to break free, only to be cut down by the shadowed figures that kept their identities concealed. Those that tried to run were speared through by sharp appendages extending from the arms of these mysterious figures. They were leaving no stone unturned in their hunt for the Yamanaka, who they believed was still alive. In the recording room, which took heavy damage from the explosion, Inochi pulls herself out of the rubble, only to see the wreckage and corpses strewn about, if not from the explosion or rubble, then by the hands of these shadowy figures. Slow breathing gave way to panicked, short breaths as she looks upon the devastation. But before she could even fully get to her feet, she feels the impact of a mass of stone being thrown at her, with the velocity of the force sending her through a wall and onto the grounds below. As she gets to her knees, her hands clinched into the dirt, she lets out a cough, freeing the dust from her lungs, small tinges of blood mixed in from the impact. Standing up on her feet, she sees the group of assailants as they charge down from the building. With spears of some sort of metallic wood flying towards her, Inochi punches the ground below her, forming a wall of stone, which the spears penetrate through, but are stopped halfway. Jumping back, Inochi tries to get an insight of the minds behind these attackers, but their thoughts were blocked, as if they had nothing on their mind but the pursuit of Inochi. As she takes up a defensive stance, she sees one rapidly approaching her. With a thrust of her fist, she sends a wave of stone against the assailant, hitting them square in the face. Knocked backwards by the impact, the figure gets back up and is accompanied by more of the figures as they rush towards Inochi. Startled by the large number of individuals chasing towards her, Inochi sends a sharp barrage of punches through the air, sending out wave after wave of stones. They were hitting their mark, but the ones she hit end up replaced by more, as if they were multiplying. As she tries to turn around and run, another of the figures was already in front of her. With a sharp kick in the solar plexus, Inochi is knocked into the way of another kick, until eventually she is juggled by the individuals. With one last kick, she is hurtled through a building. Writhing through broken stone and dust, Inochi struggles to get up. With another cough of blood, Inochi sees herself surrounded by the figures. They took on the shape of a crown surounding her, with the strongest of these figures forming the point of the crown. Looking down at her hands, she clinches them into fists, the blood running through her fingers. Slamming her fist into the ground, she sends spikes of stones throughout the positions of the figures, impaling them from below. It was a horrific sight to behold, but it was the only thing left in her repertoire. As she gets up, her weak legs see her falling back down. But she couldn't rest now. She had to depart from the village, as she knew that the attention she brought upon herself was going to bring more of them to her. With the alarms blaring through the village, buildings were slowly collapsing, with massive, metallic trees in their wake, some of them with victims impaled upon the branches. Holding back tears and vomit from the horrific ordeal, Inochi musters what strength she has to run from the village, shrouding her chakra signatures to keep herself hidden. This was the beginning of chaos and the end of Inochi's normal life as she knew it. The Long Path There was no time for rest. The ever looming threat that leveled the village she called home could very well be at every corner, ready to bare their fangs. Inochi was still writhing from the pain that was inflicted upon her, both physically and emotionally, and her body was on the cusp of giving up, trying to force her to rest. But she couldn't rest knowing that there was something out there that specifically targeted her. Who would want to destroy an entire village for just a singular person? Was it revenge? Inochi has turned the tide in many battles, and has certainly made a good number of enemies out of the opposition she faced. But no one she faced had such sickening coordination to kill, nor did they have the willingness to sacrifice themselves to kill many. More importantly, what was the idealogy behind them standing in the formation of a crown as they stood over her before she retaliated against them? These were questions Inochi did not have the energy or strength to try and answer. All she could do was keep going, hoping she can find a nearby village before the exhaustion takes its toll. The sun glows orange as it begins to rest below the horizon, harking the call of night. With a limpish pace, Inochi keeps moving, not knowing how long she's walked or how far. All she wanted was a place of safety to rest, to try and regather herself. In the distance, she sees what appears to be lights shining against the setting sun. It was another village. Picking herself up, she musters all her strength and starts running. The pain was unbearable, her arm having been fractured by the impact against the building, the pain only now surfacing as the adrenaline in her body begins to return to normal levels. Gritting her teeth through the pain, she keeps running. Upon the watchtower, a guard sees the wounded individual running towards the gates. Her dress in tatters, her blonde hair dirtied with dust and debris. "Open the gates, we got another one!" The guard yells out. As the gates slowly swing open, Inochi limps into the village. She doesn't make it two steps past the gate before exhaustion finally becomes the victor in the fight, and she collapses. As she regains consciousness, she finds herself wrapped in bandages, feeling the burn from the ointment that was applied to her wounds. The sun was shining through the window over the bed she was laying on. On a hangar, she sees her dress, what was once tattered and unrecognizable, now in the condition it was prior to everything falling apart. Slowly getting out of the bed, she winces slightly as the ointment rubs her skin under the bandages. Locking the door, she undresses herself from the clothes that she found herself wearing and begins putting the dress on. As she ties the bow onto the center of her dress, she hears a knock on the door. Putting on her shoes, she turns the lock on the door and opens it, and a little old lady was standing at the door with a plate of hot food. "Good to see you up and about, dearie. You were a mess when you came through here, far worse than the others were. Here, you should eat something." The old lady speaks up. Nodding her head, Inochi gently grabs the plate of food and follows the lady downstairs to a fairly sizeable eating area. It was the village's inn, which had begin doubling as a refuge center. Inochi could see a lot of familiar faces from the village she was in, and it gave her hope, knowing she wasn't the only survivor in the village. As she sits down, she grabs a pair of chopsticks and begins to eat her food. She wanted to savor it, but she was so hungry from everything that transpired that she couldn't help but take bite after bite of the scrumptious delicacy that laid before her. Before she knew it, she had finished the meal, but still found herself hungry. The chef could see this and hands her another plate. Bowing her head down as a sign of gratitude, Inochi takes her time to savor the food from this one, having gotten her ravenous appetite in control. It was delicious, and had all the simplicity a home cooked meal could provide while having an indescribable range of flavor. It took her noticeably longer to finish this one, but she was much more satisfied from it. As she takes out her wallet about to pay the chef, he turns down the payment with a smile. "No need. Word from the refugees is you helped give them a chance to escape. You helped fend off the worst of the attackers, giving a good amount of people an opportunity to get out of the village and seek refuge. They all pitched in to make sure whatever food you had was on the house." The chef speaks, taking the empty dishes from Inochi's finished meal to the back for washing. Looking around the dining area, she could see a lot of people were still a bit shaken up, but they were talking among one another, finding some solace in the events that transpired. She didn't know she was responsible for saving so many lives when all she was trying to do was defend herself, but it was apparently enough that the larger waves of forces broke off and tried to pursue Inochi, giving the citizens ample time to escape. She felt grateful that she wasn't the only person who survived the attack, and that she was able to give the citizens a solid headstart to head to safety. Getting up from the bar area, she heads back upstairs to relax before she gets a lay of the land in this village she found herself in. But she couldn't relax for too long. Outside the village walls, an explosion is heard ringing the walls of the houses. Opening the window, Inochi jumps out and lands towards the ground below in a full sprint. Once she makes her way outside the gates, she sees a herd of familiar faces. It was the shadowed figures she faced before. Clinching her fists, she charges the figures head on. Peering into their minds once again, she can hear a faint voice. "Kill.", it said, repeating over and over. That was the only thing that kept playing through their heads. In retaliation, the shadowed figures launch a series of spikes towards her. To counter, Inochi draws her sword. With a press of a button on the hilt, the blade fragments into a whip, which she twirls around her to shatter the spikes before retracting it. Assuming a fencer's stance, she focuses on the shadowed figures, mirroring their movements as they try to move. As one takes the offensive and prepares to throw a flying kick, Inochi ducks under and rolls her sword against the hamstring of their leg, cutting it open, preventing the leg from bending and flexing. In an instant, the other figures have her surrounded, but Inochi keeps her composure steady. Once again fragmenting the sword into a whip, she twirls it around her with grace and serenity, cutting through the figures with an efficiency that being called perfect would be an understatement. Each movement struck a vital weak point, be it in their arms, chest or legs, dropping them before they had a chance to react. As she retracts the blade, she sheathes it and begins to walk away, only stopping when she hears a strange noise. As she turns around, she notices the pile of bodies all conjoining together. The shadowed mass then begins taking shape, legs forming from the bottom, arms extending out of the chest, with a grotesque head forming from the shoulders. Once again unsheathing her sword, she charges at the giant figure, attempting to go in for a slash against the Achilles heel, but the thick skin shattered her blade. Shocked by the destruction of her sword, she is kicked back by the heel of the giant, tumbling against the ground. Not wanting the giant to attack the village, Inochi puts her palm against the ground, raising the ground around her while leaving the battlefield the two stand in sunken. To prevent the giant from climbing out, Inochi imbues the surrounding walls with earthen spikes, each of them "alive", ready to extend out when the giant attempts to scale the wall. The giant, looking down at Inochi attempts to drop a massive fist against her, but Inochi jumps towards the wall, one of the spikes extending out to allow her to land on it. Jumping up higher, she meets herself at head level of the giant. Forming the seals Snake, Ram, and Bird, the spikes around her all pull into one massive spear, which she hurls at the giant's head. But it was futile, as the spear merely shatters against the giant's head. With a visage of grimace, she notices its massive arm moving towards her. But she was too high up for the earth below to help, and she was in the center, so the earth against the walls wouldn't reach her in time. As it raises above her, it slams her hard into the ground, leaving a crater in the earth. Coughing up blood from the impact, Inochi struggles to get up, but finds her body too weak to do anything. Slowly, the giant approaches her, ready to step on her to end it all. "Why, why am I not strong enough?! Why can't I beat this force before me?! I have to destroy it here and now or that village, and every village around it is doomed!" Inochi yells. Herds of people above witness the wounded Inochi as she tries to move. Slamming her fist into the ground, the ground quakes in the presence of Inochi's anger. Suddenly, an aura of blue wraps around Inochi as the giant's foot descends upon her. When it seems like she was smashed by the giant, its foot stops mid stomp, as if something was holding it back. Slowly, the foot is raised up before forced upward, causing the giant to lose its balance and fall on its back. Appearing before the giant was Inochi, covered in stone, a blue aura furiously burning around her, with stones small and large floating around her in the presence of her power. As the giant gets up, it attempts to drop a large fist against Inochi, but she stops it with one hand, which forms several spikes that penetrate the giant's hand, causing it to writhe in pain. Taking this opportunity, Inochi jumps up towards the giant's chest, striking it in the solar plexus with an incredible amount of force, enough that the shockwave itself blasts a hole through the lumbering beast's chest. As the giant roars, it kneels down, slowly falling apart as its body could no longer heal itself. All that was left was a mass of shadow, which Inochi promptly buries deep in the earth before sealing it up. With the battle over, Inochi returns the grounds to even terrain as the embodiment ends. But as it ended, she found herself healed by the transformation, and the broken sword nearby repaired. As she picks it back up, she sheathes the blade back in its rightful place, returning to the applause of the villagers and refugees. Returning to the village walls, she checks to see if anyone was injured. But before she has a chance to, she is once again under attack. This time by a singular individual. She looked to be of high rank, and definitely of the same organization that has been tracking Inochi lately. It was the first time she could see a face behind these brutal killers, and it was very discouraging to try and fight back this one. But she saw the threat just one of these monsters oppose, so she assumes a fighting stance by stomping her lead foot on the ground, a common Muay Thai maneuver meant to signify the start of combat. A Potential Lead A still air of silence permeates between the two fighters, one that was broken by the aggressor being Inochi's opponent. As she throws a leading left punch, Inochi grabs her opponent's arm. With a firm grip on her arm, Inochi trips her opponent's leg by sweeping the Achilles heel. With the center of gravity shifted, Inochi twists her hips leftward to throw her opponent over her back and quickly mounts her. Locking her legs against her opponent's hips, Inochi throws several elbows, all of which are skillfully blocked by her opponent by using her hands to push Inochi's elbow strikes away. As she goes for another, she pulls Inochi into a grapple by slipping her right arm under the pit of Inochi's left arm, then holds onto her hand with her left hand. With a quick twist of her hips, she pulls Inochi around and gets her into the same mount. With the tide turned, Inochi's opponent retorts with elbow strikes of her own, but Inochi grabs the first elbow strike, then lifts her legs behind the shoulder blades of her opponent before pushing them to the back of her neck. As she wraps her right leg around her opponent's neck in the attempt of a triangle choke, she uses her left leg to wrap around the shin of her right leg. To fully enclose the choke, Inochi pulls on her opponent's arm. Trying to break free, Inochi's opponent begins throwing strong, short jabs with her free arm against Inochi's side. But Inochi bears through the pain, keeping her legs clinched and holding tightly onto her opponent's arm. But with a burst of strength, Inochi's opponent gets up to her feet, with Inochi still holding onto the triangle choke. In an attempt to get her off, Inochi's opponent slams her to the ground. But before Inochi could make contact with the ground, she lets go of her opponent's arm, puts her hands against the ground, then uses a forward movement of her hips to throw her opponent back to the ground, this time having a solid stranglehold against her opponent's neck thanks to the added weight of being on top of her opponent. Unable to effectively fight back, she was at Inochi's mercy, who demonstrated an elite caliber of taijutsu. As Inochi sees her opponent's eyes roll into the back of her head, she lets go of the stranglehold, rendering her opponent unconscious, but still alive. As Inochi gets up, she slumps the unconscious fighter over her shoulder, having placed several seals on her to prevent chakra manipulation as she takes her to her room. This was her opportunity to get into the mind of just who is behind all this senseless killing. Lying her on the bed, Inochi places her hand over the unconscious fighter's forehead, drifting her own mind into the fighter's. From there, she could see what appeared to be some sort of prison. In the center of it all is the girl, broken and crying. She was seeing legitimate pain in the figure before her. Inochi slowly approaches her, the girl looking up at her, her eyes red from the endless stream of tears. "Are you here to kill me? Go ahead, I'm done fighting. I'm tired." She says, a tremble in her voice, one of weariness and pain. Inochi was right to have initial doubts in fighting her, she wasn't like the others. Inochi could see the pain in her heart, the struggles she has been through since defecting from her village. On the pauldrons of the armor, she sees an hourglass, speculating it was her village's symbol. But it wasn't one she had seen before. Regardless, Inochi extends out her hand. The girl, looking up at her hand, could see a gentle kindness in Inochi's eyes, one she couldn't see during their fight. It was a look of trust. Trust. Something she hadn't felt in a long time. "Are you sure you want to trust me? I mean, I tried to kill you, I've destroyed so many villages, am I even worth saving?" She asks. Inochi, closing her eyes, slowly nods her head. More tears begin to fall from the girl's eyes as she grabs hold of Inochi's hand, who slowly begins to pull her up from the dirt. She easily towered over Inochi, standing at a solid six feet in height. But she felt out of the two, Inochi was the bigger woman in that moment. In a sign of desperation and weariness, the girl holds onto Inochi, resting her tired head upon Inochi's shoulder. Inochi holds her for as long as she needed for her to compose herself. Once she was finished, Inochi felt confident enough to ask the questions she was hoping to gain answers from. "I'm going to start by asking you name, then move onto this next question, but only if you feel comfortable in answering it. What is this organization you're a part of? Why do they see the need to kill so many innocent people?" Inochi asks, hoping to be as gentle in her tone of voice as possible as not to antagonize the girl before her. "My name is Shishi Honpou, of Jikanogakure. I defected from the village quite some time ago after stealing this suit of armor from them. As for your next question, this organization calls themselves the Black Crown. They believe all weilders of chakra are abominations that must be purged from the land, believe that only the God Tree should possess that chakra. I wasn't exactly given a choice to join. They saw my strength and essentially forced me into it, locking away what humanity I had left in this mental prison to use as a weapon for when things go south." The girl replies. "Jikanogakure? Can't say I've heard of that village before." Inochi speaks up, intrigued by the name of this village. "It's an older village. Predates the Warring States Period, but it went by a different name back then. Wouldn't be called Jikanogakure until sometime before the Fourth Shinobi World War. After the war, we got ourselves stuck in some sort of dimension between space and time. Took our Daimyo decades to break through the barrier, but it didn't quite feel that long as we weren't affected by time. We wouldn't know it until after one of us stepped out of the village after our return that we were trapped in that portal for fifty years. I was sick of it. So I stole a copy of the experimental armor they were working on and left the first opportunity I got. So yeah, I'm a seventy four year old in a twenty four year old's body. Figure that one out." Shishi replies. "So this Black Crown, is it a newer organization?" Inochi asks. "Oh, no, it's been around for a very long time. It struck hard about fifty three years ago, but was pushed back. Hadn't heard from them since up until the point where we got trapped. But it looks like they been busy since that time and had been popping up quite frequently. I was shocked to see them back after the destruction they had caused in Otogakure. They leveled that village to the ground. I went back to that spot before I was abducted by the Black Crown, and the scorch mark where the massive cross stood was still there. So were the trees that spread throughout the entire village. The bones of those who met their end against these trees were strewn below them. They were dangerous before, but this was even worse; It was during a Kage Summit, so all the Kage and Daimyo were there. So many Daimyo were slaughtered by the Black Crown. It's amazing anyone even survived the attack at all. Who knows what those people are up to now, if any of them are still even alive. Because, come on, this was over fifty years ago." Shishi replies. The more she speaks to Inochi, the more the prison visage of her mindscape began to fade away, as if just talking to Inochi was enough to help free her mind. "I've been slowly freeing your mind from the clutches of the Black Crown while we spoke. I can remove hypnotic barriers away from the mind, but it takes time. And it's a lot harder when the person doesn't cooperate due to how scared they are. So I take my time to console them, to make them feel comfortable. It helps ease the tension on the mind so I can break the hypnotic chains much more quickly. I'm just about done. When I'm finished, I'm going to ask you to wake up." As the prison walls fade away, what's left behind is a void of white, slowly changing to a serene landscape of endless trees, blue sky and green fields. Shishi was finally free, and she could smile again. As she smiles, she wakes up to find herself in a room, with Inochi sitting next to her, smiling. With a smile back, she gets up from the bed and extends her hand out. As Inochi holds onto it, Shishi helps her up from the chair before grabbing hold of her tightly, once again resting her head on her shoulder. "Thank you. I've felt so lost in that prison, I didn't know if I would ever be free. But you freed me." Shishi speaks up, a trembling voice giving way to tears as Inochi returns the embrace. "You're welcome. I knew there was something different about you than the other members. I could still see that ounce of humanity in your heart that I didn't see in the others I fought." Inochi replies. As the two finish the embrace, they smile at each other. "Listen, if it's not too much to ask, I want to go with you. I need to make amends for the things I've done, and I feel that helping you fight back against the Black Crown will help with that. Will you let me travel with you?" Shishi asks. With a smile, Inochi nods her head yes and turns around, walking out of the room. With a smile, Shishi follows closely behind her. As they walk out the room, Shishi could see all the eyes set upon her, all of them with fear in their eyes. With a sharp exhale of air from her nose she looks towards them all. "I'm sorry for the things I have done. I was under the Black Crown's control, something I had no say in the matter for. They used me as a weapon, but now I'm going to destroy them in the name of all the people they forced me to hurt. I promise." With her fist over her chest, the people slowly begin to applaud the newly rejuvinated Shishi until the entire inn was uproared with applause. Not just for Shishi, but for Inochi, who was able to save Shishi from the darkness in her heart. As the people continue to applause, the two make way towards the door. But before they could leave, the innkeeper gives the girls a pair of backpacks filled with food. "Now there's no sense going out there without something to eat. So here is some food to help you two on your travels. You stay safe, and don't forget to visit us sometime." The old woman speaks up, smiling as she leads the two out of the inn. As the two put on the backpacks, they depart from the village and head north, having heard rumors about a duo who were also investigating this terrorist threat.